Buying a Motherboard

[Cinder13]

I'm upgrading my computer and have one basic question.
I"m getting the amd 1.2 ghz 266 fsb
256 mb's ddr ram
All i need to figure out is what motherboard to get that is available and efficient.
I'm pretty sold on the msi k7 Master but i read it supporst up to 1ghz and higher. I want to assume "and higher" means 1.2 ghz but need some info on it before i put money on it. Would appreciate any replies on this or any suggestions towards other motherboards that support 266mhz fsb and ddr ram.

 

[TheSandman]

Yes the k7t master supports the 1.2g athlon. for ddr ram check out boards based on the amd 760 chipset.

SANDMAN

 

[Cinder13]

Thanks for your response. In that case i plan on buying the msi k7t master s, its a bit pricey but supports 1.2ghz and ddr ram as well as 266 fsb. Does anyone recommend a different board that supports all of these features. Also i already have a scsi 160 board, is it worth it to have one built into the motherboard as well?
As a side note, does anyone have a favorite silent cpu fan. I've read a lot about the alpha pal 6035 and will probably go with it.

 

[Booky]

I wouldnt get the K7 Master. Go look at the A7M266 by Asus, it uses the AMD 761 North bridge and the 686B southbridge. It has optional onboard sound and lan. It is what im buying so check it out. Plus its only $185 vs what I seen the K7 master at $250. Let me know what ya think


Someday I will stop asking all the questions!

 

[stable]

You should be happy with K7 Master-S. It has everything you need including the AMD 761 and the VIA VT82c686B. This is a very good board and unlike the Asus it seems to have come through the revision process quite well. I would wait until the next revision before considering the Asus board. I would consider going with Dual 128MB modules on the PC2100 RAM versus going with the 256MB flavor. There seem to be issues similiar to those impacting Dual Sided PC133 DIMMs as a heads up. I am curious as to where you are getting your CPU. I'm a dealer and AMD is telling me that the 266MHz bus units won't ship into the distribution channel until the 3rd week in March. Tech Data, Ingram and D&H don't even have part numbers for them yet.

 

[Cinder13]

The asus if i'm not mistaken doesn't utilize ddr ram. That said i've already ordered the k7t master s, pricey sucker i know...

 

[upec]

The ASUS A7M266 Mainboards do support DDR RAM.

 

[Booky]

Bummer Cinder you should have checked it out more. It does soupport DDR and ATA 100 also it is a great board but oh well the MSI K7 Master will pperform well its just too much. How much you pay for it?

Someday I will stop asking all the questions!

 

[Guest]

U want to recomend asus (perhaps crApSUS) ? read my post on ASUS turning to S#!%, maybe they make fast boards and Tom might like them, (the boards he gets are unlikely to be "off the shelf")and maybe you would be lucky and won't have to deal with ASUS service

 

[RocKo]

Dont buy ASUS until further notice, they need to smarten up, there bios updates are cheat and lets not start with the service, and boards arent the same anymore... they make there products cheap and some dont work as well as it should. ABIT, MSI, EPOX are still the contenders... ASUS lost my vote for the time being...

<font color=red><b>-RocKo</b></font color=red>

 

[Cinder13]

Ouch missed that one, saw it a while back but guess i lost track of it... argh one thing the msi hasn't shipped yet, very pricey board i must say.
That said if money was no option which board would be better the msi or the asus. Thanks for all your help, i think i can change the order since it hasn't shipped yet...

 

[Cinder13]

I ordered the cpu from Pc Progress, they called to say its on backorder but will ship within two weeks. That said your timetable is probably correct, but keeping my fingers crossed it comes early. Will have parts coming from all over, got the adtronics 7896 case coming first so i can play with my empty case while i wait for everything

As a side note i've decided to stick with the msi, it seems to be a superior product though i've read some good things about the asus as well. I don't mind the extra expense if a smooth board, beside one can never have too many scsi 160's in his case

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Cinder13 on 02/14/01 01:08 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Guest]

i bot the FIC AD11 (AMD 761 Northbridge and VIA686B South)...this is my first venture into building and i knew that the future was the AMD-C chip (just now shipping) and PC2100 DDR (not widely available yet)...that said, the AD11 supports both 100/133 FSB and AMD-B or AMD-C chips...i started w/a 1 gig B chip and PC1600 DDR because if i screwed it up, i wouldn't be out top dollar components.

the AD11 is the top choice mobo for OC'ers at this point from what i've read, because both the multiplier and voltage can be adjusted...and its very very stable

plus: the price was right - $174 US.

i put the PEP66 cooler w/Delta 28.3 fan on w/o trouble (so far).

 

[Booky]

if money is no option then it looks like the MSI K7 Master is better. From what I have been hearing in recent posts Asus has really dropped the ball on there quality and service. Hearing this has turned my attention back to the MSI board, that is where it started untill the A7M266 was released.

Someday I will stop asking all the questions!

 

[Guest]

system up and running perfectly.

AD11 @ 100MHz FSB
1000 MHz AMD-B
128MHz Crucial PC1600 DDR
Adaptec AHA-2940UW SCSI
Voodoo3 3000 PCI
SB Live!